Twenty artists received Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grants

Recipients include alumni Carmen Argote and Paul Mpagi Sepuya

May 12, 2020

Alumni Carmen Argote (B.A. '00, M.F.A. '07) and Paul Mpagi Sepuya (M.F.A. '16) are among 20 recipients of Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grants this year.

Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Darkroom Mirror (_2160081). 2018. Team Gallery

"The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation revealed the 20 contemporary artists receiving its 2019 Biennial Grants, which come with an unrestricted $20,000 for each recipient. Past recipients of the prize are a veritable who’s-who of influential contemporary artists, and this year’s class is equally impressive.

The 2019 grantees are: Carmen Argote, Diedrick Brackens, Alejandro Cesarco, Liz Cohen, Sara Cwynar, Brendan Fernandes, Kahlil Robert Irving, Gelare Khoshgozaran, Fawn Krieger, Deana Lawson, Carolyn Lazard, Arcmanoro Niles, Alison O'Daniel, Tschabalala Self, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Sable Elyse Smith, Patrick Staff, Diamond Stingily, Stephanie Syjuco, and Cosmo Whyte. They were selected from a pool of 110 nominees by a seven-person panel that included Kerry James Marshall and Cindy Sherman, both of whom serve on the foundation's board.

In a statement, Marshall—who received the grant in 1993—said of the experience:

"Few events are more exciting and encouraging than being nominated to compete for prizes you can’t apply for. It is the kind of endorsement that gets the wind at your back, and since my 1993 Tiffany grant, it’s been full speed ahead. It has also been an honor to join the Tiffany board and serve with famous artists I used to only read about. I was so fortunate to be an awardee. We are so lucky there is the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation."

Since its launch in 1980, the biennial grants have doled out more than $9.5 million to 500 contemporary artists around the U.S. Past recipients of the prize include Nina Chanel Abney, Diana Al-Hadid, Ian Cheng, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Juliana Huxtable, Titus Kaphar, and Anicka Yi. In the current moment, with much of the art world still shut down due to the COVID-19 crisis, the $20,000 in support may be especially vital for the grant’s recipients."— Benjamin Sutton, May 12, 2020

This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Artsy website.

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